


Live a Little

by mscreativity



Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Actors, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexuality, F/F, Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-08 00:31:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21226823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mscreativity/pseuds/mscreativity
Summary: Michaela Pratt is a struggling actress from Philly who moved to L.A two years ago to make something of her career.Laurel Castillo is one of the most sought-after actresses under thirty in Hollywood.





	Live a Little

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for no particular reason at all...  
OK, may be there is one reason... because, I love Michaela and Laurel's friendship  
But making them romantically involved sounded perfect so here goes...

Michaela Pratt is twenty-seven years young, never been in any serious relationship. Well, she had been in a couple ones that lasted a little over three to four months, never longer always shorter than she had imagined. She could never quite understand why any of her previous relationships hadn’t worked but she had a theory that she just may have been dating the wrong men. But the truth was, looking back at the men she had been with, they were all perfectly fine and this shocking realization made her hastily and biasedly concludes that she was the problem, the one who was unable to hold her own in a relationship. Yet, for some other bizarre reasons just to feel good about her situation, she would rather believe that maybe, just maybe she hadn’t met the right person. Now, even though her last relationship had ended four long years, she not getting intimate with anyone was completely unintentional. She absolutely didn’t think being single was what she wanted to be. But a gut feeling that she may never flee from the jaws of single-hood could darn well scare her soul out of her body. But her faith, though remotely, made her believe her own special human was out there somewhere waiting for her and that love, though latent, would find her eventually.

Michaela is a struggling actress from Philly who moved to L.A two years ago to make something of her career. But the pursuit of that seemed unyielding, as she was yet to get that breakthrough role. So after countless movie auditions, she thought of giving up. But as the universe would have it and out of the blue, she stumbled on a flyer on her way to her favorite coffee shop one summer day. She had ended up not getting her coffee that morning but had unexpectedly gotten something a whole lot better; lead act, in a low budget movie titled **IMITATION**; _a coming of age LGBT movie about love. The story centers on the life of Ginger, a twenty-something year old, African-American, who immediately after graduating fashion school, lands herself a job as a personal assistant to the owner of House of Elegance, a leading fashion company. Ginger falls in love with her new job but also finds herself falling for the daughter of her boss, Kate. Kate’s delirious personality and high-spiritedness catches Ginger’s attention and as they begin to work closely together, an underlying tension begins to build and one night they kiss and it all starts from there._

***

It is Friday and the final day on set. It had been long weeks of shooting, rehearsing script lines, tirelessly changing costumes, sleeping less or not sleeping at all and eating mostly junk food for Michaela but she was fully pumped and like always, fully prepared to give it her all time best performance.

The last scene is of Ginger and Kate, being played by Laurel Castillo, one of the most sought-after actresses under thirty in Hollywood.

The director, Asher Millstone, give his cue. “Take one and… ACTION…”

_“What the fuck did you do to me?” Kate asks, confusion aligns her face. She falls on her knees in front of Ginger, who is sitting on the couch. Kate looks disheveled. Her breath reeks of beer. She had driven to the bar to clear her head after the fight with her fiancé, Nick. He had found out that she had been cheating on him with Ginger and he wants nothing to do with her and she is losing her damn mind. She had never seen herself being romantically involved with another girl. Yet, here she was, helpless and confused like a lost kitten. She is fucking drunk yet thinking she knows what she is feeling, as these feelings feel as real as the red bruises on her wrist, bruises that Nick had put there._

_Ginger looks more confused than Kate. She is confused at her question. She wasn’t doing anything to Kate. She just had this inexplicable love for her. She breathes out cautiously. “I don’t know what you mean.” Ginger finally says, getting up from the couch though unsteadily._

_Kate snickers. She too gets up but struggles to maintain balance when she is on her feet. She begins to stilt around the room in her black stilettos. “You dunno? Now, you dunno?” she sniffs. “Well, I getting married may probably NEVER happen. I, may have lost the one relationship I’ve freaking built my entire life around…” she pauses to sniff again. “I, may never be normal again and you don’t fucking know?” She stops walking. “Like hell, what the fuck was I thinking? I may just as well just kill myself because Nick, he says he don’t want me no more…” She gives Ginger and-it-is-all-your-fault look._

_Ginger somehow reading the look correctly glance shockingly at Kate, wondering where all these reactions were coming from. Had she not been happy? Of course, they had been happy, really happy for the last few months they had been secretly seeing each other. Kate seemed happy. They were happy together or did Ginger imagine this. She thought. If Nick meant that he didn’t want Kate anymore, she was willing to have Kate, to have her all to herself. But Ginger could see that Kate didn’t want that. She could see that she was very much distraught at the thought of her fiancé leaving her. Ginger walks towards Kate and tries to make her look at her. Kate refuses but Ginger wins. “Look at me, please…” She cups Kate’s face in her hands. “I love you more than he ever will. Look at your hand. See what he did. He doesn’t deserve you.”_

_Kate moves away, pulling her sleeves down to cover her wrist. “That’s beside the point. I love him, don’t you get it…”_

_Ginger doesn’t give up she takes Kate’s hands in hers. She exhales. “I know how this looks. You feel used. Like I made you do things you never thought you could or wanted to do…but that’s not true. I’m just as confused as you are. I didn’t do any of these.’’_

_“What are you saying?”_

_“All I’m saying is… well, it’s not like you didn’t have a choice. But you never refused any of my advances. Doesn’t that mean that you wanted this? So when you ask me that kind of question, I think you already know the answer.”_

_Kate’s eyes drop to the floor beneath them. A sudden spark appears in them. Ginger is right. She really feels used and deluded. And now, she needs to escape from this space, this space that got her mind all twisted up and confused. She isn’t in love with Ginger. No. These feelings aren’t real. Yes, they weren’t and she would very much like to believe so. This was her passing through a phase, a phase she was done with. She looks back up and stares into Ginger’s eyes. “Thank you. Thank you.” She kisses Ginger on both cheeks before planting a big wet one on her lips. Beaming with smiles in her eyes, she splutters. “My relationship isn’t over after all. I can still fix it, fix it all, everything.” She moves away from Ginger, who is perplexed. “I’m going to drive down to Nick’s. I will apologize to him… beg his forgiveness… I know he will forgive me and when he does, I will suggest that we go for therapy and hope to God that he agrees. Of course he has to agree. He must agree. And before you know it, everything will be back to normal. Yes, that’s it…” This was Kate’s perfect plan and she was certain that it would work. She picks up her purse from the coffee table. She walks briskly towards the door, very excitedly. She stares at Ginger one last time before storming out of the apartment._

_Ginger stands motionless and emotionless, as this is not the reaction she had envisaged. She had hoped that Kate had finally come to admit that she loved her just as much as she did. That she was going to be only hers forever. That they were finally going to be together with nothing or no one interfering. But no, Kate was completely insane and like a crazy whirlwind she was gone, she had lost her. They were over. Just like that. Ginger slumps into her couch and cries her eyes out. She finds a bottle of pills in her bathroom cabinet. She pops the lid and takes the entire bottle. Then, opening a bottle of wine she had brought with her, she drains half of it. She climbs into a water-filled tub and allows herself drown._

Asher announced that it is a wrap. Everyone in the room cheered with oh's and ah’s, very excited that shooting was officially over. Honestly, it had been a hectic and challenging months shooting the movie so it was quite a relief to the cast and crew but not Michaela, she wasn’t entirely thrilled. For starters, she didn’t know what to do in the following days or weeks maybe even months to come. Her life was boredom in its original form. But this had given her a sense of duty that she looked forward to everyday she woke up.

She got out of the tub and wiped her body with a towel handed to her by Cherry, one of the welfare assistants. As she walked towards the dressing room still trying to dry up, she spotted Laurel Castillo down the short corridor. She was chatting with Alana Monroe and Junie Garcia. All three of them were the big stars in the movie and they had formed a click. Michaela was an amateur, a dilettante, as Junie would put it. And she was right, as this was actually Michaela’s debut role in an onscreen production. Seemingly, stage acting didn’t mean much to them and Michaela couldn’t dare count the few stage production she had been lucky enough to star in as an achievement.

Well, her dilettante status made it difficult to make acquaintances let alone become friends with any of her co-actors especially the women. Actually, most of them, as in Alana and Junie, were self-absorbed and very snotty. Good thing was, Michaela wasn’t one to throw herself at people that didn’t want to be friends with her. And for that sole reason, she left unnoticed once shootings were over. It was not like anyone ever cared to talk to her so it was very easy creeping out like a weirdo.

She yanked off the red wig off her head and placed it on a head dummy. The dampness caused by sweat made her hair itch and she scratched rudely at it. She definitely wasn’t going to miss the wig and that was for certain. She was really glad that her hair would be finally free from the horror and torture of them, as she really, really hated wigs. She quickly took off her costume wear and changed into her own clothes; a blue polka-dot gown and a denim jacket

She took out her phone from her dressing drawer, turned it on and quickly dialed her regular cab service company. She frowned at the amount she was going to pay, as she was yet to receive her complete paycheck. She hated that the money she spent ordering cabs would have been spent on other important stuffs. When she bent down to tighten the strings on her red sneakers, she heard the unit publicist, Bonnie Winterbottom, announce that there was a small get-together for the cast and crew at Sam Keating’s, the producer’s house later that day at around six and everyone was invited.

Straightening herself, Michaela spied her wristwatch and noticing it was past two, she panicked. She had totally forgotten that she was expecting her twin, Michael. He was flying over from New York for the holidays, as Christmas was in two weeks. He was the only family she had after losing her parents in a car crash years ago to a drunken truck driver.

She adjusted her hair in the mirror, put on her oval Ray-Ban glasses, strapped her bag over her shoulder and walked out of the room. Strutting down the corridor, she noticed Laurel was already gone though Alana and Junie were still around. She waved them goodbye when she walked passed them. They surprisingly returned her farewell with smiles and air kisses, which was very unusual. Michaela took that as a sign that were happy for a fact that they weren’t going to see her face again. Well, so was she. She stepped onto the parking lot. Her cab was going to be fifteen to twenty minutes late and she hated that she would have to wait that long.

The sun was quite intense but she liked it, as the heat would help dry out her hair. After five minutes, she thought to head back inside. But it was not even an option—not when Anastasia and Drizella Tremaine were still around. She really wouldn’t want to strike up that conversation that would make her second guess her career path. So instead, she decided on strutting up and down a pavement. As she did, a car honked, giving her quite a scare. When she turned around, Laurel was in a red spotless Ferrari. The top was open and she looked pretty chick in it. She was wearing a flowery green dress and very bold sunglasses. Her brown hair flew in the wind, making the view look like a movie scene.

“Waiting for someone?” She inquired.

Michaela looked ahead towards the road but there was no vehicle in sight. “Um, yeah…my cab.” She stuttered.

She usually wasn’t like this. But it had been over a week had she realized she lacked confidence when off set. It became vividly noticeable whenever she was with Laurel. She fidgeted and was always lost for words and that concerned her.

Michaela could feel Laurel’s eyes on her but she didn’t dare look up to be certain. She stared at the ground not that there was anything particularly interesting down there.

“Where you headed? I could give you a ride.” The Latina volunteered.

Michaela was sure she wasn’t going to accept this gesture but before she could politely decline, her phone began to buzz in the side pocket of her jacket. It was the cab driver. She finally looked up, but not exactly at Laurel. “Thanks, but I think my ride’s here.” And before she could finish her sentence, a black car approached in their direction.

Laurel smirked. “Okay… see ya later alligator.” She zoomed out of the parking lot.

“After awhile, crocodile!” Michaela muttered before walking towards the cab.

The cab man named Umar, took her to her favorite restaurant where she bought some Chinese take-outs for two. Umar was the chatty type but in a less annoying way. He talked about his experiences with people as a driver and the stories were quite hilarious. Michaela was so engrossed in his melodramatic expressions of a girl he had just dropped off before coming to pick her. The girl had ranted to him about her ex-boyfriend, who left her for her cousin just because her cousin had gotten new boobs. Michaela didn’t even know when he pulled up in her building’s parking lot. She tipped him but he politely declined and thanked her profusely before she alighted. She smiled, told him she’d give him a five-star rating and waved him goodbye before he drove off.

She spotted Michael’s old jungle green jeep in the parking lot before walking into the lobby. She found him sitting, all very exhausted, in one of the armchairs. A duffel bag rested on the floor beside his left foot. She was shocked to see him sitting out there. It dawned on her that he didn’t have the new key to her apartment, as she had changed the locks to the main door because it had been faulty. When their eyes meet, she thought he didn’t look too excited to see her and she feared he was probably angered by the fact that she didn’t tell him she had changed the locks or pissed that he hadn’t been able to get through to her since her phone had been off for hours.

***

The Pratt twins looked nothing alike. Well, they were fraternal twins. They could very well just pass off as regular siblings. Michael stood at a height of six feet two inches and she was just slightly over five feet. He was in the Military so he was built like steel and her, well, she was just all right. He hugged her lovingly when she got to where he was already on his feet. From the warm embrace, she knew he wasn’t mad at her. They both climbed the stairs up to her apartment on the third floor even though the building had an elevator. There was no way she dared use it when he was around. He wouldn’t hesitate to call her lazy like he usually did. Inside her apartment, the twins didn’t spare any more seconds before devouring their meal.

“So how’s Becky?” Rebecca Stutter was Michael’s insecure girlfriend of forever years. “She okay with you spending the Christmas with me and not with her?” she inquired. She didn’t like her but she also didn’t want to be insensitive by not asking about her. She liked that he wasn’t single like her. But she wished he was because she just couldn’t get how it was that he and this girl were still together even with all of her several baggage and bad attitude.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I dunno, I think so.”

“You dunno… you think so… really bro.” She got up from her seat to get a bottle of water from the refrigerator. The food was a bit too spicy today but she liked it. “That means she’s not.”

“What does it matter? She would be with her folks so she really doesn’t need me. But you… you need me.”

Michaela rolled her eyes at him. “Says who? I know I do not. You do know I don’t need you to babysit me every chance you get.”

“I know. It’s just that I really want to be here, with you. Besides, she gets to have me for the New Year so there’s that.”

She scowled. “Whatever… I just don’t want to be the reason for any squabbles between you two.”

He grunted. “You wish.”

She threw a cushion at him that would have landed on his head but he had ducked impulsively. “Fuck you.”

He grinned.

“So, any plans for tonight. I bet you’d run off to see Wes soon.” Wes was Michael’s childhood friend, who lived just a few blocks away and anytime he was in town, they spent an awful amount of time together.

“Nah, I’m just going to lay in for the rest of the day, perhaps tomorrow.”

“Hmm, that’s a first. So this means if I do invite you for a party you would say no?”

He sat up straight. “A party… whose party…?”

“It’s just a little something the executive producer thought to put together.”

“Oh, yea, wait a minute. I totally forgot about that. How did that even go? So you’re a superstar now, huh!”

She scowled and shrugged. “I’m not exactly that, yet. And also don’t forget it was just a small town production so I’m pretty sure the party wouldn’t be fancy.”

“Tryna be modest, _huh_.” He grimaced. “But how did the shooting go, t’was a success yeah?”

Her mind trailed as thoughts of possibly seeing Laurel at the party surfaced and it made her blush. “_Uh-huh_, it was.”

“Now, what’s that smile for?” Michael asked. He knew what that smile meant. She was definitely lusting over someone.

“What smile? I wasn’t smiling.” She denied flatly.

“_Mm-mm!_ Lie all you want, I know you’ve got something up your sleeves. So spill, who’s he?”

Aghast, she grimaced. “_Pfft!_ It’s no one so stop asking.”

“Liar, liar pants on fire.” He made a puffing sound while gesturing with his hands.

“Really, I’m not lying. There’s really nothing to tell.”

“Alright…” He gave a surrendering fit. “Since you don’t wanna talk, I’d find out myself. That aside, when is this get-together?”

She hated him and wished she could strangle him. “It’s by six, are you coming…”

“_Nah_, I’m gonna sit this one out. You go have fun. Besides, they don’t need lameo’s like me there.”

“Yeah right, they don’t.”

“Fuck youuu.”

They both laughed hysterically.

***

Laurel got home feeling exceptionally beguiled by the presence of her husband. She had called him just before leaving set and now she walked into a room of scented candles and trails of strewn red rose petals on the floor of their bedroom. He had made her a warm bath that she so needed. He was in the kitchen whipping up a simple a la carte meal for her. She got into the bathroom took a quick shower. After, she changed into a silk shirt.

When she walked into the dinner hall, the aroma of whatever he was cooking had taken over the entire air in the room. He was the perfect househusband she never even wished for. She walked up to him and kissed him teasingly. He returned the kiss. She chuckled into his mouth and breathing slowly, she let him kiss her again. This time deeper, as his tongue rolled inside her mouth. She kissed him passionately for another few seconds before finally breaking it off. He took her hand and they made their way out of the kitchen. He made her sit down on the chair that he drew out. He then went back into the kitchen to fetch her meal. He placed it in front of her and poured her a glassful of red wine before he sat in the adjacent chair. He watched as she ate.

“So Sam called… telling me about the party. You still have no plans on going to these things?”

She swallowed the food in her mouth. “I think so.”

Frank stared at her puzzled. “C’mon babe, this would be the third time in a row you’d be turning down their invitation. Don’t get them, assuming stuffs and coming up with silly conclusions.”

“You are going, aren’t you?” She quipped.

“That’s beside the point. Sam and I have a movie script we need to review. It’s not like I’m going there to represent you…like always.”

“Well, why not? You can tell whoever cares to ask about me that you came there on my behalf. I’m really tired and don’t feel like partying.”

He pouted. “_Pwetty pleaseee_. Please do it for me, _pwease…_”

She surrendered with her arms in the air. “Alright, fine. I will. But, I won’t be there the entire time.”

“Thanks babe. I’d go get ready. I have the perfect dress in mind for you to wear.”

Laurel shook her head. She hated him for being so perfect. She tried finishing her food and did the dishes before heading upstairs to get ready.

***

Michaela wore velvet pants, chiffon shirt and black heels. She wore her hair short naturally so she had just oiled and brushed and it had come out nice. It was twenty past seven when she arrived at the Keating’s residence. Quite a handful of guest had arrived. She had recognized like three persons that included Junie and Alana but the others she didn’t know them but figured they were in the entertainment industry. She found her way to the mini bar and ordered a cocktail. She was only a social drinker so she didn’t have a specific brand of drink and a cocktail seemed like what she needed tonight. She greeted Sam when he walked into the room with his wife, Annalise, by his side. She thought they both looked dolled up, maybe too much for the event but then again, they were the host so it was somewhat appropriate dressing.

After about twenty minutes and bored to death, Michaela couldn’t help but search for the Latina amidst the small crowd that had formed in the Keating’s living room. She felt a little disappointed at not finding her. And just when she wasn’t looking, Laurel walked into the room accompanied by a handsome looking man in a black Tux. She was wearing a red sheath above the knee gown. She had red lipstick on and her hair fell down loosely slightly below her shoulders. She looked really sexy. When their eyes met, Michaela quickly looked the other way. She swallowed. She could feel knots tighten in the pit of her stomach. Her heart raced and warm heat burned her cheeks. She could feel them turn crimson.

Few minutes later, Michaela could have been making conversations with the guy, whom she couldn’t recall if his name was Connor or Collin, standing in front of her, trying to engage her in a chat. But her mind and her eyes were all over Laurel, as her presence took over her every sense of being. When she was finally able to disengage and compose herself, she paid attention to the guy, blabbing something about keeping up with the Kardashians and why he loved Kim more and how he envied Kanye. But the chance Michaela got when he volunteered to go refresh their glasses, she hunted for Laurel in the room but she was out of sight. She decided to look outside but pretended to go get some fresh air, as the room was beginning to suffocate her, anyway. Moreover, she didn’t feel like she belonged here.

Just as she stepped down the short flights of stairs, she noticed Laurel standing at a corner talking into her phone. She decided to form activity on noticing that she was through with her phone conversation and was headed in her direction. When Laurel got closer, she saw something sparkle against the ray of light from the bulbs hanging over them. It was the ring on Laurel’s wedding finger. A bit distraught, she felt slightly jealous at the thought that Laurel was married. She hadn’t pictured her as the married type.

“Hi Kayla… heading home already, leaving unnoticed like you always do when you think no one is watching.”

A surprised look tumbled over Michaela’s face. She liked how Laurel called her name. More so, she was surprised that she did notice that she always snuck out. But she wasn’t sneaking out or anything like that this time around. “I, I just wanted a bit of fresh air.”

“Hmm! Okay. It is pretty stuffy in there, isn’t it? Well, I’m heading out myself. It’s a rather dumb party don’t you think.” She grimaced.

Michaela nodded, agreeing. “It is.”

“You can leave with me.” Laurel teased. Michaela wouldn’t mind but she wondered if she was being serious or just being playful. “Get in.” Laurel invited her, as she entered her car that a pageboy had just driven to the spot where they both stood.

“Alright…” Michaela replied. _What could happen, absolutely nothing?_

As Laurel drove out of the Keating’s exquisite compound and onto the road, she turned on the radio. A very uncomfortable blues came on. The brown skin girl wished she would change the station but she didn’t. The evening breeze was subtle and gentle against her skin, her face especially. A hundred streets lights aligned the road as they drove off. The stars complimented the dark night. The ambiance and the mood in the car were not helpful to Michaela at all. She could feel the hair on every part of her skin stand up from whatever sensation she was feeling.

“You look tense.” Laurel said, taking several glances at her.

“No, I’m not.” She lied. Laurel swerved the car off the road and pulled over. The area was a bit dimmer. The abrupt stop jerked the other girl slightly forward, catching her off-guard. “What the heck?” She exclaimed.

“Sorry.” She said, unbuckling her seat belt. She turned to look at Michaela. “I noticed you were staring at me back there.”

She gulped. She wanted to say no, that she wasn’t. But that would be another lie she knew Laurel wasn’t going to buy. She tried avoiding eye contact but she failed as the Latina leaned in closer. Michaela leaned inwards but her body hit against the car seat, then, she knew there was no more space behind her. She remained stiff like a board, barely breathing, eyes shutting and opening uncontrollably. Laurel was now in her space. They were both practically breathing in the same freaking thin air. Laurel’s expensive fragrance wafted into her nostrils, giving her goose bumps.

“Relax. I just wanted to help you with this.” Laurel replied, as she pulled out the seat belt on Michaela’s side and helped secure her to the chair. “Safety first…” Laurel leaned back in her seat and geared up. “And it’s okay to stare.” She finished with a wink at Michaela.

The brown skin girl hated herself for thinking for a second that the Latina was actually going to kiss her. Be damn! All Laurel needed to do was just tell her what to do. She breathed when Laurel finally drove back onto the road and off to heaven knows where they were headed.

***

It was 8:28 PM. The bar at the Ritz-Carlton was slightly full. The place was one of the expensive hotels that graced mostly the wealthiest of people who lived in this part of L.A. Michaela didn’t have any business being in a place like this but Laurel had stopped and invited her to have some drinks with her and she couldn’t decline even if she wanted to. She was strangely looking forward to something else happening. Not that she could place her finger on it but she could feel that there was something propelling her towards Laurel and she could tell that it was a mutual feeling.

They both took a table in a secluded part and settled in just fine. A waiter quickly came to attend to them. Laurel ordered a bottle of Vodka, an expensive one for sure. Michaela wasn’t sure she wanted to have that, as she didn’t do well with spirits and strong drinks as this kind. Despite that, she didn’t reject the half-tumbler of Vodka Laurel poured her after the waiter had brought the drink with two tumblers in a tray and had left.

“So why acting?”

Michaela contorted her face in confusion, spilling a little drink. She wiped her mouth with the back of her right palm and dusted her pants before carefully placing her tumbler down. She shrugged. “I really don’t know why. I guess because… well, t’was one of those things I was really great at back in high school and after college, I took acting classes and after that I was like, why not give it a try…” She answered all the while gesturing with her hands.

Laurel drained her entire tumbler and refreshed it, then relaxing her back she gave Michaela an approving nod. “That’s nice. I was… completely bribed into doing it. I’m not that good at it, at least not like everyone else thinks. But I guess having a movie producer for a father comes with perks as such as this.” She drained her second tumbler while Michaela was still struggling to finish hers. “Even though my dad did get me registered in one of those Ivy-League acting schools, it still didn’t change a damn thing.” She burped. “Heck, I didn’t even graduate but I still turned out to be an actress. Crazy right…”

“No shit!” Michaela smiled with a doubtful nod. _Was Laurel supposed to be telling her this? Didn’t she care that she could leak this to the press? Did she trust her this much to share such personal details with her?_ She pushed these silly thoughts to the back of her mind. She sure knew her place and she couldn’t be the judge of the Latina’s acting. Honestly, she even thought her acting was perfect. Besides, Laurel had received several awards for some of her previous movie roles so who was she to say otherwise. If anything, Laurel may even be the best actress she had ever met. Michaela had managed to finish her first tumbler but she was hesitant to pour herself a second glass. But that didn’t last long, as Laurel helped her out by pouring her some. She breathed and thanked her.

“You don’t talk much do you?” Laurel said, getting up from her seat and joining Michaela in hers.

“Eh, I do.” She shifted in her seat. “But only when I really know what I’m talking about.” They both grinned at each other. “I didn’t know you were married.” Michaela spluttered but immediately wished she could take back those sentences. But it had slipped out of her mouth out of curiosity because she couldn’t stop pondering about it all the while they had driven out here. She really wanted to know if the ring on Laurel’s finger was really a wedding band or a mere accessory. But what difference would it make if it was or wasn’t? What did she care? Why did it even bother her so much?

The question caught Laurel off-guard but she responded anyway. “Well, you wouldn’t know... would ya? We are not that and neither are we friends. I can barely even remember your last name.” She sipped her drink slowly eyeing Michaela, who melted from those stares from piercing blue eyes. “But I do know for a fact that you are a great kisser…” Laurel blurted because she was a blurter. Michaela flushed on hearing this. She didn’t know if she liked her bluntness. She just couldn’t help but wonder how it was so easy for Laurel to never really think about what she said. She thought maybe she just said it and probably regretted it later. “Don’t tell me you’ve never been told that before?” She added, noticing the blush appearing on her company’s face.

Michaela gulped. Hearing that made her suddenly parched. She quickly drained her second tumbler. Laurel shifted closer. But this time she wasn’t stiff nor did she move back. But her heartbeat raced and maybe it was liquid courage because she was as calm as a morning sea. She was more collected when she stared into Laurel’s eyes. Eyes that became bolder as she moved closer. Then it all went awfully quiet. The voices and the music in the background suddenly faded away, then, their lips touched. It felt like a thousand fireworks exploding. Michaela slightly opened her mouth, welcoming Laurel’s lips, kissing her back. It was different from the kisses they had shared during filming. It was uncalculated much unrehearsed. It was slow and heartwarming. It was the word perfect. Yes, perfect. Michaela could feel the taste of Vodka and it was strangely sweeter on Laurel’s lips. The kiss lasted well over fifteen seconds before Michaela slowly pulled away. She didn’t want to stop but her brain suddenly started functioning right again and it made her panicked. She licked her lips, worrying over the fact that someone could be watching them. Her fret heightened, as she could not stop imagining that there could be some weirdo or a paparazzi lurking around a corner who might take pictures of them because she wasn’t exactly prepared to have her career crippled by any trashy tabloids, before it could barely crawl.

Laurel didn’t quite like that they stopped kissing so she initiated another one. Michaela did welcome it but ended it abruptly when two men walked passed their booth muttering something. Laurel exhaled. “Now that felt really good…” She relaxed her back, grinning from ear to ear.

Confused, Michaela asked running a hand through her hair. “What are we doing?”

“Having fun, what does it look like we are doing?” She retorted gleefully. “We are just having fun.” She picked up the bottle of Vodka and drank directly from it. When she was done, she handed it over to Michaela but she rejected the bottle with a shake of her head.

“Okay… but I need to go home now. Can we leave, please?”

“Whoa, what’s the rush, Kayla? It’s the freaking weekend, babe.” Laurel bobbed her head, throwing her hands in the air, as _Rihanna’s work_ came up on the speakers.

_Babe,_ Michaela repeated the word to herself, narrowing her eyes. Endearing names didn’t sit well with her and not when it was coming from Laurel Castillo. But she let that not bother her, as she wished she were as bubbly as her company was. But she wasn’t. She didn’t know what fun meant. Yet somehow, to her knowledge, fun to Laurel meant hooking up and drinking to a stupor. And if she was right about that, then she didn’t want that kind of fun. Apparently, Laurel didn’t find kissing her weird or thinking that it should have a meaning. But Michaela did. A girl had never kissed her before. Well, besides in the movie playing Ginger. However, Laurel wasn’t just any girl. She was someone she admired and adored. She was someone she thinks she might be having uncertain feelings for. She spied the time on her phone. It was almost nine. It was still quite early but she just wanted to go home. She didn’t like staying out later than ten and it was sure to happen tonight, as she was like three hours drive away from home.

“You are acting really weird. Is it because we kissed?” Laurel looked at her to find a clue.

Michaela didn’t look at her. “No... And I’m not acting weird.” But it was. She was freaking out a little bit about it mostly because it might mean something to her.

“Sooo, stay with me a little longer. Or we could go somewhere else if here is too dull for ya.”

“That’s not,” She paused and had a second thought. She really had no reason to be uptight. “One more hour and we leave, deal.’’

“Deal…” Laurel ordered Champagne. “You’re very frigid. You need to let your hair down sometimes.” Those words touched Michaela and so she let herself live a little. But being a cautious one, she made sure not to have too much to drink.

An hour and several minutes later, Laurel had had way too much to drink and was unfit to drive home and since Michaela couldn’t drive she called Laurel’s husband on her phone. He arrived at about 11:45 PM. Laurel had completely passed out so he placed her in a lying position in the back seat. He was nice enough to offer Michaela a ride to the nearest bus station. But riding with Laurel’s husband, who had introduced himself as Frank Delfino, in the passenger’s seat, was very uncomfortable. She felt guilty because of what she had done with his wife.

“My wife has never mentioned you before. How did you two become friends?” He glanced at her then back at the road ahead.

Laurel couldn’t have mentioned her. After all, she had made that clear that they weren’t close. “Um, we just finished working together on the movie Imitation. That’s how we know each other.” She finally answered.

“Oh, you are the other actress? I’m sorry I really try not to concern myself with,” Laurel stirred, whispering something they both couldn’t quite catch. He turned back to check on her but she was still sound asleep. “With the movies she stars in… She doesn’t exactly like me being all up in her business.” Michaela smiled feeling more guilt. He seemed like a really nice dude and she very much hated herself right now. “Thanks for calling me. I wouldn’t know what would have happened if the press had gotten a hold of this.”

“Sure. It’s nothing really.”

“Well, here we are. It was nice meeting you Michaela.”

“Same here... Thanks for the ride.”

She got out of the car, strolled to take a seat and waited for the next bus to come along. And when it finally arrived, she got in. On the ride home, she remained solemn and could think of nothing else but the kiss she shared with Laurel. The thought of it made her heart flutter and made her weak at the knees. It made her smile and her tummy feel warm. And she couldn’t help but wonder if this was love or _imitation_ love.

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> THANKS FOR READING, HOPE IT WAS A GOOD READ...


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